Thread: What binos are you using?

I get to associate with quite a few hunters with varying grades of glass.
It's not a simple spend more money get a better result. There's quite a bit of gear that is very good, but you pay a premium for the sticker.
If I were looking to get started with binos, I would probably go with the 4-600 dollar Leupold. I've looked through those numerous times next to good euro glass and there's probably only five minutes difference depending on your eyes.
And no matter how much you spend, there's going to come a time in the evening when you run out of light.
If you want to spend an extra two or three thousand dollars to gain five or ten minutes knock your socks off. But I don't see the point.

I've got Bushnell Legends M series, I find them brilliant and have compared them with my mates swaro's and there wasn't much in it for either of our eyes (although his swaros has a rangefinder)
These were the top of the line Bushnell binos at the time, i didn't want to pay the $1000+ sticker price in NZ for them so bought them through Amazon for $350 ish
5 or 6 years down the road and they are still like new.

+1 for the Bushnell Legend M. They run real well compared with my Swaro el wb 10x42. Only time I found them lacking was at near dark. Had them on tripods out at sunset and was very surprised. They hold very well and would be awesome bins if you can find any.

Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

the old argument always comes up - 8x or 10x - for me had both sold the 8x - now 10x and wont change - 10x every day of the week for picking up a set of fallow ears sticking up out of the bullrushes they are the business - but if I wanted to give a pair to a young hunter or someone inexperienced in the field then 8x is the way to go- just easier for them to use - but you cant beat the xtra power of 10x - what a pity one cant get say 8- 20 now they would be neat

There is argument for lower powered binos IF you have higher zoom on scope or carry spotter...but agree 10x is hard to beat.

I personally think that leupold is over rated crap, spend as much as you can on binos, they are your friend, I would go Khales, zeiss, swarvoski and leica.

I use steiner safaris

I went from happily using Leupold/Windriver binos for decades to purchasing a pair Swaro Slc about 7 years ago as more a mid life crisis purchasd than anything, like others have said I may of only gained an extra 5 minutes or so at either end of the day.
Now I'm color blind and what I didn't expect was how much the Swaro's make animals "pop" out of similar colored or shaded backgrounds and make things appear "sharper ".
Only regret I have with them is I never spent the money years ago on a pair.

Originally Posted by Titanium

I personally think that leupold is over rated crap, spend as much as you can on binos, they are your friend, I would go Khales, zeiss, swarvoski and leica.

@Nathan F bought Khales. Don't think he was impressed.

Mine are Tract 8x45. At $1K they are excellent.

Try looking thru some friends. Go to a store and look thru different ones. try before you buy. Glasses for bird watchers will give you great clarity.

Originally Posted by Tahr

@Nathan F bought Khales. Don't think he was impressed.

Mine are Tract 8x45. At $1K they are excellent.

@Tahr Yeah I did buy Khales. The optics are great but I really wanted Swarovski. I was too mean to spend the money first time round . I should have . I ended up getting the swaro El 10 x 42 Range and love them

Try sending Kahles and Ziess back for work once they have a bit of age on them.
Either very expensive or not interested.
Just tried getting Ziess binos and scope done. Weren't interested in binos, would give me a price on scope once it got to Germany, after a $200 postal trip.
Got a set of Kahles 8x40 binos tidied up a couple of years ago. $700 plus post.
Swarovski tidied up my spotter for free

I think a good pair of binos can make the difference on a hunt. I started with entry level Konus I think. Moved into Ultravids then Geovids. Swapped out the Leicas for some Swaro EL Range. Large cost for glass but I'd do it again if needed.
My experience with Euro glass for warranty has always been excellent. I dropped my Leicas and they were repaired under warranty no questions asked. Ive also has a Swaro scope repaired without question. Only hassle was long time delay for shipping to and from Europe.

@BravoBoss458

Bit late to the party.
I've never liked bino's. I find them tricky to adjust.
I've tried a few, 10x, 8x, 7x. Including the small ones.

10 or 8x, well I find I shake a bit so,, 8x for me.

Last year I bought a Vortex 8x 36 monocular.
Easy to adjust.
Very light weight.
Very compact
About same lens quality as Leupold
Under $200.


Look at monoculars, I'm sure others make them.

I think the comments along the lines of "i looked through my mates swaro/leica/other decent bino aide by side with my $1000 binos and there wasn't much difference in it" are exactly that, an opinion formed by a couple of minutes with some alpha glass. Once you actually own and use some really good glass and its what you use all the time you appreciate it more and more, its not just the "extra 5 minutes" you're paying for, better management of stray light, sharper edges, better definition between shades of the same colour, better at eliminating chromatic aberration etc and a product that is actually repaired by the manufacturer if an issue arises not just throwj in the bin and replaced with another one are all things I can think of that add value. Realize that $3-6k+ is not realistic money for a lot of people to spend on a pair of binoculars but its never an exercise in wasted dollars. I certainly shouldn't have spent what I have on some of the glass that I have/had but Yolo lol I'm happy to make some sacrifices in other areas if it means I end up with something I enjoy using

Not an expert, but in addition to my comments above.
The exit pupil size is very important in low light. A very small exit pupil that you get with a 10x40 is only 4.
But 8x40 is 5. The closer to 7 the better.
So, in the evening a slightly cheaper 8x40 may perform better than the dearer 10x40s.